Who is Tiago Lemos?
Tiago Lemos is part of that insatiably hungry Brazilian contingent that just lives skateboarding. Born and raised in Jaguariúna, Brazil, Tiago first found skateboarding at ten years old, slowly collecting a used deck, trucks, wheels and everything else from his older brother and his homies. In fact, the decks he was initially skating weren't even made in the traditional maple construction, they were instead created using marfim. Don't worry, these decks were not made of elephant tusks, marfim decks get their wood from the Ivory tree which thrives in South America. I only mention this because there is a chance that Tiago's immense pop potentially comes from the fact he grew up skating a much heavier deck construction, thus making his pop insanely high when he set up a regular maple deck.
Once Tiago was introduced to his local skatepark by his brother and decided to stop flying fighter kites (Google it, it's way cooler than you may think) it was well and truly on for Tiago.
When visiting Barcelona for the first time at around 18/19 years old, Tiago was shown true street skating, stating:
“skating spot to spot, to going on filming missions with filmers and photographers, I saw how everything in skating was. Seeing all of that first hand just blew my mind. I knew that it’s what I wanted to do with my life”.
Well, he definitely achieved that and then some.
Video parts and winning Trick of the Year
After this trip to Barca', Tiago really started to make a name for himself in Brazil. Eventually, in 2011, Tiago made his first trip to America to film for a DC Brazil edit, staying in Peter Smolik and Jake Brown's house. From there, Tiago mixed with many big names in the US and was impressing everyone he encountered. It didn't take too much longer for Tiago to find himself filming his 'We Are Blood' part with Ty Evans - the first video part that thrust him into the focus of the skate industry outside of Brazil.
A year after his 'We Are Blood' part dropped, Tiago then dropped his 'Press Play' part in 2016, filmed and edited by Chris Ray. Tiago's WAB part raised a lot of eyebrows and impressed, but 'Press Play' just straight-up dropped jaws. The perfect combo of inhuman pop, gnarly spots and tech tricks really did make this one of the parts of the year. Once the world of skateboarding had all seen 'Press Play', Tiago was very much on his way to being a household name within skateboarding.
During this time it felt as though every time you opened up Instagram, you saw another clip from a video part of Tiago's that just made you stop what you were doing and just start staring at your phone.
A great example was the infamous switch backside tailslide on the high ledge at Macba, which was a true internet breaker of a clip. Funnily enough, he was actually just figuring the ledge out in that clip and his plan was to go back the next day and slide the whole length of that ledge to drop down to the lower part after. It was just a local at Macba who had filmed the clip on his phone and posted it straight to Insta... It's funny to think we were all blessed with that clip but at the same time had something even more insane taken away from us. Regardless, it won the Trick of the Year award! Tiago messing around turned out to be regarded as the best trick done by anyone that year is a pretty crazy thing to wrap your head around.
Leaving DC Shoes for New Balance Numeric
As previously mentioned, in 2019, Tiago left DC and joined the New Balance Numeric crew. During the 2010s Tiago was one of the first skaters in the limelight that was really leaning into the baggy aesthetic everyone seems to be emulating nowadays, and had elevated DC at the time due to it. He just oozed that baggy DC steez from the '90s. When the move to NB was first announced there was a solid amount of Tiago fans that were absolutely gutted he had joined the Numeric team. However, that did not take long to change. Literally a few months after joining NB, the Tiago 1010 was announced to drop in 2020 and as soon as the critics saw the shoes, many of them quickly went quiet.
The '90s-inspired aesthetic that Tiago managed to refine during the earlier parts of his career carried over to his shoe design for the 1010 and, as we all know, it did more than worked, it blew up. Still to this day, it is hands down one of the most spotted skate shoes out at the moment. Being one of the most technology-filled shoes in the New Balance Numeric lineup, as well as being aesthetically pleasing, it's not much of a surprise.
The New Balance Numeric 1010 skate shoe by Tiago Lemos
The cemented cup sole of the 1010 uses New Balance NDurance rubber, which gives the shoe a super grippy, yet durable construction. Often something cup sole shoes are criticised for is a lack of grip and board feel, the 1010 does not have that problem at all.
The midsole used is the highest performing material named the "FuelCell". This midsole is perfect for keeping your feet as protected as possible from high drops, long skates and everything else in between. On top of that midsole sits an Ortholite insole which is another great addition to the impact protection of this shoe, keeping your feet well and truly protected whilst not impacting the feel between your foot and deck.
The actual upper of the shoe is also incredibly well thought out, with the FantomFit construction designed to support your foot without adding any weight to the shoe by fusing thin materials using hot melts rather than sewing heavier materials together such as leather or plastic. On top of all of that sit zonal pods that are placed around your heel, creating a snug comfortable fit. A lot of brain power was used in the creation of this beast of a skate shoe and it has paid off massively!
A solid shoe for one of the most solid skaters out!
